A rotating squad of seven officers joins others to fight crime and protect the public in the storm-ravaged community.
By CHRIS TISCH
Published August 20, 2004
PUNTA GORDA - In the week since Hurricane Charley leveled this Charlotte County community, the number of police on the street at night has tripled.
Some of those uniforms are Largo police officers.
A squad of seven Largo officers arrived in Charlotte County on Saturday night, part of a rotating team of Largo officers who will remain there for six or more weeks.
They will be replaced by a fresh squad of seven this weekend.
When the officers first arrived, they had to stand in sweltering heat while guarding the county's Emergency Operations Center.
Then they were attached to Punta Gorda's nighttime police patrols.
The officers have been paired with Punta Gorda officers for several nights.
They have been in the thick of law enforcement duties: foiling looters, arresting vigilantes and responding to the routine domestic disputes.
"They're half normal calls and half storm-related," Sgt. Butch Ward said.
Officer Bill Shaw was involved in apprehending a looter who was stealing from a business Monday night.
On another night, Officer Thomas Carvella arrested a drunken man who was patrolling his neighborhood with a five-shot Derringer pistol.
Charlotte County is under a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, and police are encouraging local residents to leave the law enforcement up to them.
"The guy says he's the protector of the neighborhood," Ward said of the armed man.
"So now we've got vigilantes."
Officers also responded to a domestic-related stabbing Wednesday night.
Shaw stayed with the victim, who had been stabbed seven times, until rescuers arrived.
The officers also have been responding to complaints of fraud and keeping an eye out for prowlers.
"There's a lot of police presence, a lot of sneaking and peeking behind businesses," Ward said.
The Largo officers are sleeping in the department's command bus, which sat in a parking lot Thursday afternoon.
The officers try to sleep during the day but sometimes are awakened by residents knocking on the door and asking for help.
Lt. Jim Precious said four of the seven officers who came to help out after Charley also aided victims of Hurricane Andrew.
He said relief efforts in Charlotte County are much more organized than in South Florida in 1992.
"The cooperation among law enforcement agencies has been unbelievable," he said.
